It’s just more feasible for me to give $20 monthly than it is to make a one-time $200 donation. Yes, you read that right! Understanding a situation like mine is crucial to running a successful sustainer giving program.

One organization broke the cycle. After I made my first gift, our relationship flourished. I’m now a proud lifetime supporter. Why? They followed a strategy I like to call the “Vowel Method.”

The Vowel Method has five elements: Accessible, Educational, Impactful, Open, and You. Let’s take a closer look.

See which countries are the most generous, as the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index reveals where 146 countries rank for three giving areas: donating money, volunteering and helping a stranger.

Now in its ninth year, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) World Giving Index looks at charitable behaviour around the world and shares insights into the nature of giving and trends in global generosity.

The CAF World Giving Index 2018 is based on data collected over a five year period (2013-2017). It includes results from 146 countries collected throughout 2017. Each country is ranked for three giving behaviours:

Helping a stranger

Donating money

Volunteering time

What are the key findings from the CAF World Giving Index 2018?

Giving has increased in developed countries; a welcome reversal of the decline we saw last year amongst most of the top- scoring Western countries.

The giving gap between the continents is closing. For example, five years ago there was a 7 percentage point gap between the index scores of the Americas and Africa. Now it stands at just 1 percentage point.

More people around the world reported helping a stranger and volunteering their time in 2017, but the proportion donating money has declined for the second year in a row.

So many grants are written and so many are often left unfunded, even the good ones, simply because there is not enough money to be distributed to every good grant.

More and more today, we are also told by philanthropic bodies that they cannot provide feedback due to the sheer volume of proposals they review. So how do you know if what you’re writing fits into the ‘good’ category or if there are substantial improvements to be made. This proves very challenging.

But now, a relatively new organisation called Unfunded List is supporting organisations working for social outcomes by providing ‘thoughtful and candid feedback’ about unfunded proposals.

If your proposal is selected, it is reviewed (for a minimal fee of $100) by an expert in the field and your proposal and associated feedback is added to the Unfunded List website.

The adage that it’s cheaper to retain a current donor than find a new one is bandied around a lot in fundraising, but I’m beginning to wonder if it’s really understood.

If so, why are so many charities seemingly more concerned about attracting new donors than taking care of the ones they already have – no matter how small that list may be.

Sure, growing our databases is important to our organisations’ survival and ability to have further impact, but unless we have literally zero donors, it will always be more important to retain the ones we have and develop those relationships. So how can we do this?

Donor care is critical. I cannot emphasise that enough. Small improvements in donor retention can have tremendously large improvements in the long-term success and stability of your fundraising.

A fantastic piece of advice from donor relationship expert, Simon Joyaux is to:

“First, believe deeply – in your heart and then in your brain – that donors matter.”

For more tips from other fundraising experts have a read of this article from npENGAGE here.

In an effort to build the public’s trust in charities, the Australian Charities and Non-profit Commission (ACNC) developed the Registered Charity Tick late last year.

This visual stamp of approval can be used by all registered charities to give reassurance to the public that they are transparent, accountable and registered with the ACNC Charity Register.

So, if you are registered with the ACNC – and we certainly hope you are and if not, you’re at least working towards it – it’s something you should take the time to download and use on your website, emails and other marketing materials where possible.